Secret Santa
by Hayley Cometra
Summary: A Christmas oneshot for horseluver657. When the Hyperforce saves planet Earth from the Dark One Worm, they also discover the Christmas holiday. And Gibson is determined to prove that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. Merry Christmas, and please read and review!


Disclaimer: I don't own SRMTHFG. The idea behind this story isn't mine, either; it was inspired by a picture drawn by horseluver657. 

Author's Note: This is not part of my "Hayley Cometra" series. Please read and review. Merry Christmas to all!

* * *

**Secret Santa**

"Oh, come now, Otto," Gibson scoffed. "It is highly unnatural and logically impossible."

"It is not!" Otto whined.

Chiro sighed and slapped his hand against his forehead. These two have had this argument ever since they had destroyed the Dark One Worm and saved the last planet from its destruction. And in a way, it was Otto's fault; he should have set course for Shuggazoom the moment Antauri had given the order, but the curious Green Monkey couldn't resist listening to the local folklore of that planet. Big mistake.

"What evidence do you pose that validates the existence of such a human?" Gibson asked.

Otto grinned. "I got evidence. Right here!" And he revealed a book; he had visited one of the countries of their last world during the night and found the book discarded in one of the streets. It was full of lovely drawings of twinkling trees, mirrored bubbles, peppermint canes, bright-colored packages, and a thousand other delights. He turned to the first few pages and began reciting what was written within:

" '_Twas the night before Christmas,  
And all through the house,  
Not a creature was stirring,  
Not even a mouse._"

But Gibson quickly snatched the book from Otto's hands and closed it, just as he did the grimoire when they were visiting the world where they had freed citizens from the curse called the Season of the Skull. "Oh, please. I would hardly call that evidence. I have validated some empirical research on the issue, and it indicates that although a person known by the identity of Saint Nicholas has at one point existed, that poem is not a historical record of that man's deeds. And it certainly does not prove that this man could otherwise be known as Santa Claus."

Otto pouted. He never liked it whenever Gibson had him stumped. He preferred stumping him whenever the scientist was talking in a technical tongue twister by nearly finishing the construction of whatever Gibson was talking about. But there was nothing he could build about Christmas.

"Well, Brain Strain," Sprx said, stepping in. It wasn't often that he would come to Otto's defense, but he could make exceptions whenever it came to Gibson. "Do you have any evidence that proves he doesn't exist?"

Gibson was dumbfounded. No one had challenged him in such a way before. He could tell that the Red Monkey was up to something.

"Why don't we celebrate this holiday?" Nova offered.

"Great idea, Nova," Chiro replied. "It'll be here before we arrive back at home, and we could use some of the cheer that this holiday brings."

"Indeed," Antauri agreed with a smile. "We have been in pursuit of the Dark One for so long that we could all use some light-hearted activities."

The pout on Otto's face melting away, he began jumping up and down and exclaimed, "And maybe Santa Claus will come down our chimney! We've been very good!"

Gibson's eyes narrowed. "We don't even have a chimney, Otto."

"I could build one!"

---------

The rest of the day was spent in preparation for the holiday called Christmas. The Monkey Team did some research and found that there was a lot of involvement in this celebration. A lot of involvement, and they had only 30 hours to do this.

Sprx and Otto started out by carefully creeping out at night, making their way into one of the forests of this world and picking out the perfect tree. Sprx had wanted Nova to come along – they could use her help in carrying the tree – but this region just recently had a snowfall, and he knew that Nova wouldn't like it. It wasn't that cold, but she had just returned from…actually, he didn't know where Nova was the whole time, but he didn't want to set Nova on edge at this time.

While they were doing that, Nova and Antauri were busy making the traditional cuisine offered at this celebration. The cranberry sauce was the hardest for them to make; the cranberries were surprisingly easy to stain on their fur and metal parts. Nova secretly wished that Sprx was around to help them make it, since there were certain advantages to having red fur.

When Sprx and Otto arrived in the Command Center with their tree, Chiro set to work on decorating it. He found that most of the time, the tree was decorated with ornaments that held sentimental value to the family household. He collected some small items from each of the team's quarters, including a star-like item that he had found once in Antauri's meditation room.

Gibson came in later with long strings of popcorn and a few dozen candy canes, all of which he made by himself after he learned how to make them. While he was hanging them all about the Christmas tree, he had to tell Otto a few times to stop licking his arms since he smelled like the treats…and apparently tasted like them too.

But the item that held the most value to Chiro was one that he put on next to last, the heart pendant that had once belonged to Jinmay. He would never forget the last words she had spoken to him: "You'll come back to me." He only wished that she could celebrate this strange but wonderful holiday with them.

Sprx entered the Command Center with several items in his hands. How surprised everyone was to see that they were stockings. No one knew that Sprx could sew. Of course, he didn't tell them that all he did sew was the names that were stretched across the top of each stocking; he found the stockings themselves in a convenience store that was going out of business. He didn't want to tell them how difficult it was to find an orange stocking.

After the tree decorating came Christmas dinner in full galore! The turkey, the green bean casserole, the mashed potatoes, the corn, the stuffing, the cranberry sauce, and of course, Christmas cookies. Nova had never outdone herself before, and everyone made sure that she was appreciated for it. Antauri served each member of the team before helping himself.

Christmas dinner nearly turned into a food fight between Otto and Gibson when the question of Santa Claus came up again. Otto was ready with a handful of mashed potatoes when Antauri held up one hand and, with his telekinesis, held Otto's hand back.

"Aw, Antauri…" Otto whined.

"The issue of whether or not such a man exists shall be settled here and now so the rest of the celebrating will not be spoiled," the Silver Monkey stated in a kind but stern manner. "Gibson, I believe it is your turn for night duty, anyway."

Gibson stared at Antauri with eyes wide open. "B-b-but, Antauri!"

"We shall need someone in the Command Center to prove that there is no…intruder."

The rest of the team snickered as Gibson hung his head low.

---------

Gibson shifted uncomfortably in his chair as the hours slowly wore on. It was not like him to feel so sleepy, especially on night duty. He was always so vigilant in his responsibilities, second only to Antauri.

"No, must stay awake," Gibson snapped at himself after his head began to hang down again. "I must validate the nonexistence of this human. The whole thing is an absurd fabrication. The very notion: flying reindeer, a sleigh with enough toys for all children in the world, a rotund man practically sliding down a chimney. Ha! How…_yawn_…ridiculous…"

But even though his mind was still working, his body was failing him. He began to slide out of his chair to make him some hot coffee to keep him awake, but his feet had barely touched the floor when he leaned into the chair again, this time with his stomach laying down. His arms hung over the side of the chair as he slowly drifted off to Slumberland.

"Must…prove…Santa…unreal…" he said between snores. He thought he heard something, but he couldn't force himself awake to find out.

Antauri smiled as he stepped out from his black tube. He slowly peeked over his two arms full of wrapped packages and found that he was right on time. He somehow suspected that Gibson's odorless and tasteless powder he concocted to cure insomnia would come in handy.

He placed one arm full of packages on the floor and used his free hand to adjust the red and white fur hat that he had placed on his head before quietly stepping across the room, carefully approaching the decorated tree. Gibson's snoring covered up the sound of Antauri's steps. Several times, Antauri had to freeze in place when he sensed the scientist trying to wake up. But he made it to the tree and placed the ribbon-decorated gifts underneath, once for his first trip and again for his second.

After he finished placing the packages and filling the stockings, he walked to the main computer and typed in a few commands. Then, with a smile, he went back to his tube and shot up.

---------

Gibson nearly jumped when he heard the sound of a whistle. He feared it was the alert of an attack, but he sweatdropped when he discovered that it was only the morning alarm. He began to chastise himself for falling asleep on night duty.

He turned to head for the kitchen for breakfast when he stopped short.

"Impossible!" he screeched.

Within moments, everyone came down to find out what was going on. And when they saw what he did, they began to talk at once.

"I don't believe it."

"Look at all that stuff!"

"How did this happen?"

"Told you he was real, Gibson!"

"But this is impossible!" the Blue Monkey exclaimed. "Why was there no intruder alert?!"

He rushed over to the main computer and typed in the command for the playback, certain that if there was any intruder, the cameras would have picked it up.

They watched for about thirty minutes as the tape fast-forwarded, until they reached a point about five minutes past midnight. Five pairs of eyes opened wide when they saw what was on the screen.

The image of a man that had perfectly matched the poem's description came down the black tube and crept across the room where Gibson was snoring. They watched as twice he came to the tree with arms full of packages; they watched as he filled all six of the stockings.

Chiro chuckled. "I suppose this ends the argument once and for all, Gibson?"

"B-b-b-but…" the poor scientist stuttered.

"It's all right," Otto said with a smile, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "If Santa Claus can forgive you, so can I. Now, are we just gonna stand here and let those presents remain a mystery?"

All at once, he was joined by Nova, Sprx, and Chiro as they dived for the tree and began looking through each package's tag to see who had received what.

Antauri looked over at the saddened Gibson and smiled. "Merry Christmas, Gibson."

Gibson sighed and perked up, knowing that he shouldn't feel down on himself for the sake of the others. "Merry Christmas, Antauri."


End file.
